Aurora Plumbing Company Blog: Archive for February, 2015

Plumbing leaks are one of the more common problems that you may encounter in your home. Many of these leaks remain hidden behind drywall and floors, and only give subtle indications that they are occurring (stains on the wall, higher water bills, warped wood). There are times when you will have a much more obvious leak, usually one that starts in the plumbing underneath a sink.

We understand that many homeowners have a strong “do-it-yourself” drive and want to find ways to fix common troubles around the house on their own. In this spirit, our Parker, CO plumbing professionals at APC Plumbing & Heating have some steps you should follow that will get your pipes fixed fast and right, with little hassle and almost no mess.

First, shut off any water flowing to the leaking pipe. You can’t always do this, but if you have a leaky pipe under a sink, make sure no more water goes down the drain and stuff a cloth into the drain if it doesn’t have a cover or stopper.

Second, put down some newspapers under the area where the leaking is occurring to help prevent extra water damage.

Third, put a bucket under the leak to capture continuing water drips.

Fourth, pick up the phone and call APC Plumbing & Heating and arrange for a plumber to come to your house to fix the leak.

Yes, it really is that easy! Instead of fumbling around with different wrenches for a few hours while reading a guide you printed out on the Internet, only to end up inadvertently damaging your pipes and creating more leaking, you can have the problem fixed fast and with the assurance that it will remain fixed. All you have to do is pick up the phone and call for someone with training and the right tools to repair your pipes. If you want something done right in plumbing, have a professional plumber do it.

Keep us in mind the next time you encounter a leaky pipe issue in your home. All kidding aside, you do not want to attempt these repairs on your own. Let our experts in plumbing in Parker, CO do the job so you will know that it was done right. Give us a call today to schedule service.

The term “radiant heating” is a bit deceptive, as a radiant heating system does not actually use radiation to heat a space. However, the convective and conductive heat that you feel from your radiant heating system may be some of the most comforting heat you’ve ever had in your home. The majority of homes in the United States use furnaces, but these aren’t always effective at heating a space entirely. Furnaces heat the air, which then blows into a room, but there may be hot or cold spots in the room as it might not be able to fill the entire space.

Radiant heating systems require a boiler to heat water so that it can move through your home. Sometimes, this is done through the use of a terminal unit like a radiator, baseboard unit, fan coil unit, or convector. But in some cases, you can install a piping system under the floor for radiant floor heating. Any type of radiant installation comes with the following benefits.

All around comfort – Radiant heating systems don’t heat up the air. They heat up the people and the objects in the room. Most people with radiant heating systems in the home describe this as feeling much more comfortable, as it distributes heat evenly throughout the room, and it makes you feel warmer faster.

Energy savings – Radiant heating systems use less energy than furnaces do. While the cost of installation may be somewhat higher than the cost of a forced air heating system, you’ll save more every month and it may eventually offset the cost.

No ducts – Ductwork is actually responsible for a lot of different types of issues with forced-air heating systems. Air can leak easily from the ducts, causing a number of heating issues you won’t have to worry about with a boiler.

Less maintenance – You’ll never have to change a filter in a boiler as you must with a furnace, and they may even require less professional maintenance as well. Besides that, boilers have fewer mechanical components, which means they may even need fewer repairs.

What do you think of when you think of Valentine’s Day? Perhaps rushing off to the stationary store after work to choose the perfect card with which to express your feelings towards a loved one? Dinner reservations at a fancy restaurant? Roses, dark chocolates, and other gifts and confections? Whatever Valentine’s Day may look like to you, chances are that it is a far cry from the history surrounding this holiday – or at least we hope so. Here are a few interesting facts about this most romantic of holidays, from your friends here at APC Plumbing & Heating.

The fact of the matter is that there is no definitive history as to how Valentine’s Day came to be. There are a few different saints with variations of the name Valentine, for example. One of the most prevalent legends, and one certainly in keeping with the romantic nature of the holiday as we know it today, pertains to a priest serving during the 3rd century in Rome. Under the rule of Emperor Claudius II, who believed that young men made for better soldiers if unfettered by marriage, it was illegal for young men to marry. A true believer in love, Valentine would marry young couples in secret. Until, at least, he was found out, and met a very unpleasant end for his crimes.

Like many of our modern holidays, Valentine’s Day can also be traced back to pagan ritual. Lupercalia, as the pagan festival is known, was a fertility festival dedicated to Faunus, a god of agriculture. As is often the case with Roman celebrations, the details of this celebration are unfit to detail here. Suffice to say that, while there is certainly a touch of the amorous in the proceedings, the festival was a far cry from what we associate with Valentine’s Day today.

How, then, did our modern version of Valentine’s Day come to be? The answer may lie in, of all places, 14th century poetry; particularly, in the writings of Geoffrey Chaucer. Famed for his Canterbury Tales, Chaucer may well be the very first writer to associate Valentine’s Day with romantic love, in the manner of which we are familiar with it today. His The Parliament of Fowls details the dream-vision of a narrator consumed with the idea of romantic love and the natural order of finding a mate. Valentine’s Day is mentioned by name a number of times, as the narrator witnesses a parliament of eagles vying for the hand – or, perhaps more aptly, the wing – of a mate.

Whatever you may think of the holiday’s sordid and convoluted history, we here at APC Plumbing & Heating hope you have a wonderful Valentine’s Day with the special someone in your life.

Ductless heating systems used to be favored almost exclusively by apartment complexes and small businesses. Areas that did not need warm air to be transported further than one or two rooms. It wouldn’t make sense to install central heating in such areas, so ductless heaters were used as an alternative. This is by no means the only use for ductless heaters, however. Recently, homeowners have been installing ductless heating as their main method for heating their homes. While it may seem counter-intuitive, ductless heating actually has quite a lot to offer a homeowner interested in installing a new home heating system. Let’s examine how ductless heating works, and how it can benefit you.

Ductless Heating Construction

A ductless heating system is constructed of two units, one installed inside the room and one installed outside of the house. These two units are connected by refrigerant and power lines. The inside unit is often mounted on a wall or the ceiling of the room that it is meant to heat, while the outside unit is installed on an exterior wall of the house. A thermostat can be installed in the room to control the system.

Benefits

Ductless heating works like a heat pump, moving heat from one place to another instead of combusting fuel to create it. When the heat is turned on, the outside unit will siphon thermal energy from the air and into its refrigerant coil. It then sends the charged refrigerant to the unit inside the room, which releases the thermal energy into the air to heat it.

The primary reason that homeowners install ductless heating systems is the level of versatility that they provide. The lack of ducts means that each room will need to have its own ductless heating system. Though this may seem expensive and needlessly complicated, it grants the ability to set a different climate for each room. This is something that a centralized heating system is not capable of doing. Ductless heating systems also avoid the nearly 30% of heat lost on average to duct leaks that central systems have to deal with. Thus, ductless systems both save energy and provide added options compared to other heating systems.